UTMB 2005
!! An updated version of this article is available
on my new blog !!
This page is a compilation of a couple of articles posted on the
blog and adapted, plus some extra info from various sources.
Contents:
The
Ultra-Trail Tour du
Mont-Blanc is a mountain "race" of 158.1km and 8639m of
positive ascent in 3 countries - France, Italy, Switzerland. Half
of the trail is run by night and the difficulty is more due to the
ascent rather than the actual distance. There were 2000 runners
registered, 1922 on the starting line and 773 reached the finish
line. We ran on large paths, roads, narrow paths, stones, grass,
... There were some check-points and food+water stations every
10km-ish. There were also 4 big base camps at the Chapieux (km44),
Courmayeur (km72), Champex (km119) and Chamonix of course, in which
were provided hot meals, beds and massages.
I've obviously not run full-speed all the way long ! I've tried to
walk at good pace in the uphill sections and to run in the downhill
ones. I took 35h 31min 37sec to complete the loop (best time being
21h11), ranking 233rd. That's an average speed of only 4.45km/h or
5.1km/h without the stops.
The entire race was amazing. I met loads of people during the race
but also beside, such as in the street, at the youth hostel, in the
train, the coach, the shops, etc ... There is a kind of solidarity
between the 2000 runners which is really great. Everybody was open
and talks to everyone without any problems.
Profile from the UTMB web
site.
This sounds crazy isn't it ? So why trying to do that ? First of
all, I like hiking in the mountains. I like to see the as much
landscape as I can in a hiking day. I also enjoy running,
especially long distances (although a marathon is quite a short
distance in this context). I like the challenges. I like to explore
my limits, and I've been a quite disappointed not to really see
these limits at the Belfast Marathon. So it was natural to me to be
attracted by such an adventure.
I obviously tried to stick on a training plan. But it was quite
difficult, because of my work, because I went on holidays and also
because I move in a new flat a couple of days before the race. On
top of that my bike got stolen. So my training plan was largely
influenced by these constraints.
I've run 3 times per week (15km, 15km, 21km) and swim twice (1.5 to
2km). I've add some circuits training sometimes. On top of that I
went to run a night in the Lake District as detailed below. I also
went hiking a week in the Alps just 3 weeks before the race, to get
back into high altitude, long endurance and mountain path
technique. If I could, I would have add a cycling session per week
and a second mountain training by day.
|
 |
| Running |
|
2 months before the race I went running by night to Lake District
in order to test the gear and the beast in rather real conditions.
As I got lost (some would say "missed the path") several times, I
don't know exactly the distance and total ascent I've run, but it
should be roughly something like 50km +1700m -1700m (ie. 1/3 UTMB
distance - 1/5 UTMB ascent). I started from Windermere at 10:30pm
and finished at Penrith the following day at 7am. The weather was
quite good: around 10°C, quite cloudy with a small moon
croissant (isn't it nice my frenchism ?).
I could train on various kinds of path: bogs (very nice by night
!), grass, bridle ways, road, stones, rock ... Running by night is
also a good way to evaluate the navigation skills... I went jogging
(7 to 10km/h) on the flat and slighty downhill paths, walking fast
on the ascents and steep downhill sections. No more than 5-minute
stops. It went quite ok, although I expected to be a bit
faster.
I don't think my mind was very clear towards the end. I noticed
afterwards that I obviously got lost pretty more often and in
easier conditions in the second half of the trail. I'm glad I
finished still running and had good feelings. Surprisingly I didn't
feel so tired while arriving at Penrith but if I actually did, it
would have been disappointing ...
About the gear:
- shoes (Asics Gel
Orient) went perfectly ok: not a single blister after 8 hours
in the mountains ! very light - the grip was ok even downhill in
wet grass
- bag (
Décathlon Diosaz raid 17) with its 2L bottle was rather
confortable although I got a bit marked on the hips (belt probably
too tight), but I'd prefer more inner pockets because it was a bit
messy
- head torch (
Frendo DIODEX) (*) was used only from midnight to 3am - I
switched on 1 LED for most of the time, 3 LEDs for the fast
downhill sections and the xenon bulb when I was really lost
About the beast:
- my knees were quiet most of the time, but could feel
them at the end - I should rely more on my poles
- my stomach was not very very happy, but I could eat
anyway - I had some power gels, power bars and the energy powder in
salted water, for a total of approx. 2000 Kcal
- my brain was a bit anxious to run alone by night during
the first hour, but was great after that
(*) page translated by google - original
page in French.
 |
| Struggling |
|
The race started slowly from Chamonix (France) on Friday at 7pm
with nice "runners jam". We got quickly a stunning
sunset on the Mont-Blanc chain of mountains of which even the
locals said was unsual. Then was the night, with a clear sky.
Everything went well for me all night long, power walking the
ascents, running the flat and not-too-sloppy descents. Lots of
people in the street to encourage us, amazing. It was very nice to
watch backwards the snake of light made by the runners head torchs,
swinging in the mountains. The first night went pretty all right,
and a couple of hours after the sunrise I arrived in Courmayeur
(Italy) on Saturday morning. I changed my clothes (only once in
35h30 !), got a great massage and ate some lasagne. For the first
time I felt a bit sleepy.
Leaving from Courmayeur, I made a big mistake by climbing very fast
after eating a lot quickly. I felt really dizzy, head spinning and
stomach ache. I really doubted about being able to finish or even
to reach Switzerland. That was the worst moment of the race. I had
a 30-minute rest at the refuge Bertone and, lucky me, I was fresh,
stomach cleaned, and could leave running full speed ! This kind of
sudden relief while all hope has gone is actually rather common
during ultras. This rest explains my small drop in the ranking for
those that noticed. The way to Champex (Switzerland) was a bit more
difficult than before, sometimes boring, starting to be alone more
and more often. Ascent of the Col Ferret was physically quite hard
to me. Also more and more people were stopping because of
tendinitis-like or stomach problems. I arrived at Champex a bit
before the night, were I got a hot meal first, to have time to
digest and then a massage. I was a bit messed up there. Moving
around, not knowing exactly what at should to first. I had planned
to sleep for an hour, but I didn't feel really tired (it's hard to
explain) and thought it would be therefore worse, so I left alone
in the night, the rain and the fog !
|
On top of the very bad weather, this was also probably the most
technical part of the trail: a long ascent in the rocks and roots
by night. The batteries of my head torch went quickly down, but I
took a lot of time to realise that (I started to be tired, but I
wasn't really conscious I was). So I was walking seeing virtually
nothing but my shoes. I didn't feel confident at all. Then I
decided to change the batteries (and here the second torch is
usefull !) and felt much better. I then found a runner to go on
with. I had a couple of hallucinations: I saw lots of beautiful
paintings on the rocks around the path. But that was not funny
compared to some runners having seen some crocodiles in the forest
or mice climbing their legs... The descents were awfull, with up to
15cm of mud and no visibility because of the combo night+fog. We
were more skiing than anything else, and it lasted for hours. We
heard many times people shouting in the night that they were bored
(well, they screamed it obviousy in quite a more direct manner).
Eventually we arrived at Argentière - 9km of full-of-stones
path left. I was really fed up with it, because it's very hard to
run that by night, and I wanted to finish it fast. Eventually at
6am the day appeared more or less. So I took my MP3 player with
loud dance music to boost me up and ran rather fast the last 4km
virtually without stopping. The last title I heard was "I like the
way you move".
The following one in the playlist was "I will be there". That's a
funny coincidence because arriving at 6:30am, there's not much
people around ! Around 20 persons only were standing nearby the
finish arch. Also the photographer was not ready and asked me to
slow down a bit... The advantage is that I've been greeted
personnaly by Catherine Poletti (the organizer) during 5
minutes.
|
 |
| Following |
|
In the list of potential problems I could have got, I was then
quite lucky. Cramps: no but rather stiff right calf, hypoglycemia:
no, dehydratation: no, tireness: a couple of minutes of
sleep-running, dodgy knees/ankle: only in the last 20km,
hypothermia: no, lazy stomach: yes but fixed rather quickly,
unconsciousness: only minor hallucinations, ankle twist: no, renal
failure: no, serious fall: even not a single fall !, huge blisters:
only a small one in the last 10km, burns: no, heart attack: no, the
finish line: YES !
I was not really fresh when I arrived, but I thought I was. The
fact is that I didn't really realised I finished ! I was slightly
happy, nothing more. I actually realised what I've done the
following day while leaving Chamonix by bus and had an amazing
emotion heating me suddenly for half-an-hour.
Surprisingly, I couldn't sleep for very long after that: my
sleeping cycles have been messed up for a while. The 3 following
nights I woke up every hour. I recovered faster than expected, only
my knees remaining a bit dodgy after a couple of days.
This information is also available with more details on the
UTMB website.
The speeds are simply computed using the global time and the
distance.
Stops are included in the speed. Some values are
not representative at all of the "motion" speed due to a long stop
(>30min). In this case an approximation excluding the stop time
is given in brackets.
They look ridiculously tiny, aren't they ? Keep in mind that the
winner managed to have an average speed of 7.5km/h ... respect
!
| Way Point |
Distance |
Date/Time |
Expected D/T |
Advance |
Running Time |
Speed |
Ranking |
| Col de Voza |
13km |
Fri 20:58 |
Fri 21:28 |
0h30 |
01h55min50s |
6.7km/h |
wrong |
| Les Contamines |
25km |
Fri 22:32 |
Fri 23:26 |
0h54 |
03h29min59s |
7.6km/h |
537 |
| La Balme |
33km |
Fri 23:52 |
Sat 01:11 |
1h19 |
04h50min24s |
6.0km/h |
411 |
| Refuge Croix du Bonhomme |
38km |
|
Sat 02:49 |
|
|
|
|
| Les Chapieux CCAS |
44km |
Sat 02:16 |
Sat 03:45 |
1h29 |
07h14min28s |
4.6km/h |
370 |
| Col de la Seigne |
54km |
Sat 04:37 |
Sat 06:44 |
2h07 |
09h35min30s |
4.3km/h |
345 |
| Refuge Elisabetta |
58km |
Sat 05:10 |
Sat 07:15 |
2h05 |
10h08min37s |
7.2km/h |
342 |
| Arête Mont-Favre |
63km |
Sat 06:33 |
Sat 08:46 |
2h13 |
11h31min02s |
3.6km/h |
325 |
| Col Chécrouit - Maison Vieille |
67km |
Sat 07:17 |
Sat 09:32 |
2h15 |
12h15min32s |
5.4km/h |
333 |
| Courmayeur - Dolonne |
72km |
Sat 07:58 |
Sat 10:35 |
2h37 |
12h56min02s |
7.4km/h |
319 |
| Refuge Bertone |
77km |
Sat 10:21 |
Sat 13:07 |
2h36 |
15h18min49s |
2.1km/h (3.6km/h) |
308 |
| Refuge Bonatti |
84km |
Sat 12:12 |
Sat 14:52 |
2h40 |
17h10min40s |
3.8km/h (5.1km/h) |
363 |
| Arnuva |
89km |
Sat 13:10 |
Sat 15:51 |
2h41 |
18h08min06s |
5.2km/h |
350 |
| Grand Col Ferret |
93km |
Sat 14:44 |
Sat 17:41 |
2h57 |
19h41min59s |
2.6km/h |
326 |
| La Peulaz |
97km |
Sat 15:20 |
Sat 18:21 |
3h01 |
20h18min09s |
6.6km/h |
318 |
| La Fouly |
102km |
Sat 16:15 |
Sat 19:27 |
3h12 |
21h13min23s |
5.4km/h |
304 |
| Praz de Fort |
111km |
Sat 17:45 |
Sat 21:00 |
3h15 |
22h43min24s |
6.0km/h |
281 |
| Champex d'en Bas |
119km |
Sat 19:31 |
Sat 23:13 |
3h42 |
24h29min32s |
4.5km/h |
275 |
| Bovine |
126km |
Sat 22:27 |
Sun 02:23 |
3h56 |
27h25min17s |
2.4km/h (3.6km/h) |
256 |
| Trient |
132km |
Sun 00:03 |
Sun 03:53 |
3h50 |
29h01min24s |
3.7km/h |
258 |
| Les Tseppes |
135km |
Sun 01:22 |
Sun 05:26 |
4h04 |
30h20min10s |
2.3km/h |
251 |
| Vallorcine |
142km |
Sun 03:23 |
Sun 07:18 |
3h55 |
32h21min29s |
3.5km/h |
248 |
| Argentière |
149km |
Sun 04:47 |
Sun 08:47 |
4h00 |
33h45min42s |
5.0km/h |
243 |
| Chamonix - Arrivée |
158km |
Sun 06:33 |
Sun 11:00 |
4h27 |
35h31min37s |
5.1km/h |
233 |
Speeds show pretty well how I felt during the race. The easy start
and the progressive deceleration (the slowest being during the
second night) before a slight acceleration for the last kilometers.
It's easy to see that I was physically at the limit of my
capacities during the ascent of the Col Ferret. Another interesting
point is the ratio (ascent speed)/(descent speed) during the second
night (from Champex to Vallorcine): I was relatively slow during
the descent.
With a little bit of distance, I've learnt many things about the
trail and myself in general.
- psychological preparation - I've tried to visusalise the
race for months before the race, I've imagined the worst conditions
(night, snow, etc). I've read many forums, blogs, to try to "feel
like" in the race, etc ... And this is very important to avoid any
unnecessary surprises during the race that often a prelude to the
end of the story. Everything is possible, if you believe enough in
it.
- being a hiker - it seems that many people withdrew
because of the rain/the mud. Being a hiker, ie. being used to very
cold weather (hi Bastien & Mommas), heavy & steady rain (hi
Odyle) but also simply rather technical mountain paths, in order
improve the resistance affected by the
tireness/unconsciousness.
- sudden relief - it seems quite common during ultras to
feel very bad (for any reason such as stomach, head ache, cramps,
hypoglycemia, ...) and to be hopeless about keeping on going, but
suddenly feel fresh again, and even without necessarily having a
rest.
- recovering - after the race, sleeping cyles are
affected. It sounds that muscles are fine again after only a couple
of days, but actually a deep and long recovering is required.
- life camp "todo" list - I knew it before: warm life
camps are some kind of magnets rather hard to leave. I can't say
I've wasted lots of time there, but I was not optimal at all,
walking around, wondering what to do first, swapping ideas all the
time. A precise list of what to do might help against the
insconsciousness.
- light - change the batteries at a life camp (even if
they look OK), because it's much harder in the dark (and
also harder to figure out when to do it).
main bag
- bag: (Décathlon Diosaz raid 17)
- shoes: (Asics Gel Orient)
- 2L (water + energy powder) + spare water tank
- salt (nu)
- 2 head torches + spare batteries
- survival blanket (nu)
- whistle (nu)
- Elastoplaste (nu)
- Power Gels + energy bars
- energy powder in 2 small plastic bottles
- Tuc biscuits (nu)
- waterproof light jacket
- thights (nu)
- long-sleeves hot & light top
- cap (nu)
- ID card (nu)
- mobile phone
- hiking poles
- Laguiole pocket knife (nu)
- vaseline (nu)
- road-book
- paracetamol - Compeeds (nu)
- gloves & ski bonnet (nu)
- tissues (nu)
- waterproofs bags
- timings table
- AVERT banner
- MP3 player
|
spare bags for Courmayeur&Champex
- small bag to avoid a mess up
- spare shoes (nu)
- spare underwear
- spare short/T-shirt
- massage gel (nu)
- vaseline (nu)
- Power Gels + energy bars
- Tuc biscuits (nu)
- energy powder in a small plastic bottle
- timings table (nu)
for Courmayeur
for Champex
|
 |
| Doubting |
|
| (nu) = not used |
|
Comments:
I've not used most of my food/energy drink because I ate enough at
the food points. I put some energy drink in the water tank all race
long, but at the end I was fed up with that, and was dreaming of a
simple glass of clear water ! Maybe using 2 water tanks would be
better.
Hereafter the list of MP3 I used to boost me up at the end of the
race:
 |
| Finishing |
|
| slow |
fast |
| Dolly - Je n'veux pas rester sage |
Darude - Sandstorm |
| Dolly - C'est pour toi |
Darude - Burning |
| Genesis - Invisible Touch |
Darude - Feel the Beat |
| Genesis - Jesus he knows me |
Darude - Out of Control |
| Genesis - Land of confusion |
Darude - Sandstorm (js16 mix) |
| Luke - Soledad |
Global Deejays - What a feeling |
| Luke - La sentinelle |
David Guetta feat JD Davis - The world is mine |
| 2 Unlimited - No Limit |
Paris Avenue feat Robin One - I want you |
| Armand Van Helden - U Don't Know Me |
Mylo - In my arms |
| B.B.E. - Seven Days & One Week |
The House Keepers - Go down |
| Boney M - Daddy cool |
Bon Garcon - Freek u |
| Boney M - Ma Baker' 99 |
Juliet - Avalon |
| Boney M - Rasputin |
The Drill - The drill |
| Corona - The Rythm Of The Night |
Roman Flugel - Gehts noch |
| Culture Beat - Mr Vain |
Bodyrockers - I like the way |
| DJ Xam - T'es Zinzin |
Muttonheads - I will be there |
| Modern Talking - You're My Heart, You're My Soul (Remix) |
Jupiter Ace - 1000 years |
| Pin-Occhio - Tu Tatuta Tuta Ta |
C Mos - 2 million ways |
| Village People - YMCA |
Cabin Crew - Star to fall |
|
Angelux - For your love |
|
Tiesto - Adagio for strings |
|
I have decided to use the occasion to raise some funds to fight
AIDS in Africa, through a charity called
AVERT. There is a serious lack of
political and religious commitment to provide enough funds and
resources for eduction and medical care. Patents on specific
medicine leave millions of people without efficient treatment: 2.3
millions of inhabitants of Subsaharan Africa died because of AIDS
in 2004. There is still time to reverse the epidemic that is
sweeping across Africa.
I've chosen
AVERT, a charity
contributing to numerous projects around the world, helping with
the problem of HIV/AIDS in countries where there is a high or
increasing rate of infection such as South Africa or the Russian
Federation.
People could sponsor me for a fixed amount or make a pledge per
kilometre actually run - this gave me some more courage to
continue.
I have eventually raised up a total of £503.02
I really want to acknowledge many people in a messy order: all
those that encouraged me before the race but also the numerous ones
that have never understood me and still think I'm crazy, all those
that sponsored me for my fundraising to fight AIDS, Yoyo for his
blog full of advice,
Catherine
Poletti (the amazing organizer of the race), the nurse at the
refuge Bertone, the 600 volunteers that were along the route with
huge smiles day and night, under the sun or in a freezing rain, the
nice kinesitherapists that provided me nearly brand new legs at
Courmayeur and Champex, all the supporters around the race that
clapped their hands (with special acknowledgments to those at the
Contamines), Ludo from the hot-dog shop in Chamonix, the
guys&girls of the youth hostel, Mark and Jean-Philippe who both
ran a long time with me during rather difficult moments and all
those I forgot. To summarise your feelings I would like to quote
the last thing Marcus told me before I left and that I kept in my
head all race long: "I don't know if I should encourage or dissuade
you to do that...".
